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(Reviewed by Snake-666) - Perhaps the most important
modern-horror movie! ‘The Exorcist' tells the story of an
innocent twelve year old girl named Regan (Linda Blair) who starts to
exhibit strange, often violent, behaviour. After numerous medical tests her
despairing mother, Chris (Ellen Burstyn), calls in a young priest by the
name of Father Karras (Jason Miller) who, to begin with, believes that Regan
is somehow faking demonic possession. However, after Karras conducts
numerous tests he becomes increasingly convinced that Regan is indeed
possessed by a demon and enlists the help of Father Merrin (Max von Sydow),
an ageing and experienced priest. Together the two attempt to rid Regan of
the demon that has afflicted her.

William Friedkin directed the screen adaptation of William Peter Blatty's
best selling novel, which was based upon the last known exorcism to be
carried out in the United States. Blatty changed the little boy from the
1949 incident into the young girl that we know as Regan and Friedkin's
adaptation of the story became one of the most controversial and infamous
horror movies of the past thirty-five years. ‘The Exorcist' is far more
than a simple horror story about demonic possession. Blatty gave us
characters that we could care about and sympathise with and Friedkin
transferred these characters to screen wonderfully. The characters all have
a history and their own traumas that feature heavily in their lives. ‘The
Exorcist' has been condemned by some as showing evil to be more powerful
than good, but ‘The Exorcist' is a story about fighting ones own personal
demons. The subtle undertones of the movie portray that sometimes having
faith is not enough; we all require help from time to time. This message is
subtle but apparent, yet never removes any of the horror. The way that
Friedkin manipulates his characters gives, what could be deemed as an
unrealistic movie, a shocking sense of realism. The characters are far from
one-dimensional and that impacts even more heavily on the viewer.

By pushing the limits of what was acceptable in terms of violence and taking
horror effects further than they had really been before, Friedkin introduced
us to a new wave of cinematic violence that would pave the way for far more
brutal and gruesome exploitation movies, yet none had the raw impact of
‘The Exorcist'. Although the effects used in ‘The Exorcist' were very
basic, the impact that they had on any viewer willing to consider the
subject matter was enormous. Unlike other similar movies, every aspect of
the portrayal of ‘The Exorcist' was vital to the script. One is forced to
feel for this innocent twelve year old girl and her despairing mother as all
manner of horrendous events occur. Convincing acting performances from the
entire cast (although Regan's demonic voice was dubbed in by Mercedes
McCambridge) certainly aided ‘The Exorcist' in becoming the movie that it
is. Ellen Burstyn is exceptional as the despairing mother and one can do
nothing but empathise for her character as she is driven to a
near-breakdown, but remaining strong for her daughter's sake. It is hard to
imagine how a loving mother would truly react in such circumstances, but one
would believe that Ellen's portrayal was not far off the mark. Jason
Miller's performance as Father Karras is also extremely powerful. His crisis
of faith after the upsetting events in his life is portrayed beautifully and
gives his character an air of humanity that is rarely found in horror
movies.

Without a doubt ‘The Exorcist' was helped by the numerous reports of
people vomiting, fainting or running out of the theatre screaming. The
extremely troubled production of ‘The Exorcist' (which included a set
catching fire and people dying) also added to its notorious reputation.
However, even without this unfortunate infamy, there is little denying that
‘The Exorcist' is a movie of extremely high historical importance. Blessed
with ten Oscar nominations and breaking the box-office record previously set
by ‘The Godfather' one can hardly doubt the impact that the movie had on
the genre and cinema in general. One can debate whether ‘The Exorcist'
took the subtle, psychological horror of movies such as ‘Rosemary's Baby'
(1968) and added extreme exploitive horror, or whether it simply plays on
fears of the unknown – perhaps even a mixture of both? Nonetheless, ‘The
Exorcist' remains one of (if not THE) most powerful, shocking and compelling
horror movie of all time. It is possibly the most important modern-horror
movie as it's influence can be seen in such movies as 'The Omen' (1976),
'The Evil Dead' (1981) and even 'The Amityville Horror' (1979) to some
extent. My rating for ‘The Exorcist' – 9.5/10.

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